One Last Time
by Brennason
Summary: Takes place in The Big Bang. The universe is rebuilding itself, and the Doctor realizes that the walls of the universe are weakened once again. This could be his last chance to see her.


******Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters except for my OC. Who shares the name of someone else. I don't own that either.**

**I've never written the Doctor before, and I really only read stories about the tenth, so I hope I got him across okay. I hope you like the story :)**

"The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly 'till I'm on the other side. I don't belong here anymore. I think I'll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats. Live well. Love Rory. Bye bye, Pond."

The bow-tied man had one more thing to do while he still had a chance. Running into the TARDIS, he went over his plans in his head. For just a little while, the walls of the universe would be very weak. Maybe, just maybe, he could get through one last time.

The Doctor ran to the console and started pulling levers and flipping switches. He knew he had to do this quickly. The split would only last for so long, and this could be his last chance to ever see Rose again. His Rose, a Rose who remembers everything they saw and went through together.

'I wonder what she'll think of my new body. It's not quite as tall as my last one, but still rather impressive, I think. Although who knows what she'll say about the clothes... And what will my duplicate think? I'm sure he'll laugh at how young I look now.' A million thoughts were flying through The Doctor's head. He had left last time thinking it would be the last time he would ever see the woman who had saved him from himself. And he knew he had broken her heart once again by leaving her on that beach. But he had left her with another version of himself, one that she loved, and surely she knew that in the end, that was the best thing. Surely they were happy together. Surely Rose wasn't mad at him.

The TARDIS jolted to a rather abrupt stop, and the Time Lord walked swiftly to the doors.

"Tyler Mansion! Here goes nothing." he said to himself, trying to get his confidence up. He threw open the doors, but to his surprise, he had not landed in the extravagant entrance hall of the mansion like he had expected. In fact, this looked nothing like what he had expected. The room was painted a dark blue, almost the color of his TARDIS, and was equipped with a baby's cot, a changing table, a rocking chair, and a few stuffed animals that were strewn about the floor. "This must be Tony's room." he decided. He walked to the door to venture out and find Rose, but right as he was about to turn the handle, he heard people quietly walking and whispering in the hallway outside.

Wondering if - just maybe, he hadn't landed in the right house, The Doctor rushed back into his TARDIS, shut the door, and began spinning knows on the console frantically. "Go invisible, go invisible! After 700 years with you, how have I still not figured this out?" he shouts to himself. Finally, after hitting a large blue button with his fist, the time rotor let off a bright flash, and he knew that from the outside, his ship was completely invisible.

"Phew." The Doctor slumped back against the console and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Then, remembering why he had made her invisible in the first place, he walked to the doors of the TARDIS and looked out the window on the right side. The door to the bedroom opened and a familiar blonde walked in, holding a small pink bundle of blankets. "Rose!" he yelled ecstatically. He was about to run out to meet her, when the duplicate of his 10th self walked into the room behind her. He moved closer to Rose, then leaned down to kiss something wrapped inside the pink blanket.

The Doctor deduced at this point that was Rose was holding was a baby. But... why would Tony be wrapped in a pink blanket? And he couldn't be that small. It had been more than 2 years since he had last left this universe. But then, whose baby could that be? Observing the situation a bit longer, he came to a conclusion. The Timelord felt a strong twinge in both of his hearts as he realized that the baby, who must be a girl, belonged to Rose and himself - or, his human self. Tearing himself out of his own thoughts, he put his face to the window once again, and continued to watch. Rose held the baby a bit longer, looking down at her adoringly, then slowly and gently lowered her down into the crib.

The older version of himself joined Rose beside the crib and wrapped his arms around her abdomen. She looked up at him, her expression full of love, and closed the distance between them with a kiss. After a few moments, he pulled away and grabbed her hand. Heading towards the door, Rose cast a quick glance in his direction.

"Did you see that?" she asked his 10th self.

"See what?" he replied, having seen nothing out of the ordinary anywhere in the room.

"In the corner of the room... I thought for a second..." Rose hesitated and then shook her head. "No, it was nothing. I'm just tired. Let's go," she said, smiling again and pulling on his duplicate's hand to lead him out of the room. He followed, shutting the door behind him, and the room was silent once again.

Alone in the room with the baby, the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, his energy completely gone. He slumped down into the rocking chair in the side of the room and put his head in his hands. How could he see her now? She was so happy in this life. How could he bring himself to once again leave her behind?

"No. No, I can't. I can't do this to her." he whispered to himself. At his words, the baby in the crib awoke, and began to make small gurgling, cooing noises. The Time Lord smiled wryly, and made his way over to her crib. The baby inside was unmistakably Rose's' as she had the light brown hair that had to be her mother's natural color, and the deep, dark brown eyes of his tenth self.

"Hello beautiful. What's your name?" the Doctor asked the gurgling baby as she tried to grab the sonic screwdriver hanging in his hand. Somehow understanding the unintelligible noises coming out of her mouth, he smiled. "Sarah Jane! Of course! It's perfect. Your mum did always have the best ideas." He hesitated before continuing, his words now coming more slowly.

"I loved her, you know; and she loved me, once. Now she loves him. Technically we are the same person, same memories and all, but he's not me. I'm not him. You know, they both love you very much. You're all so lucky, to be together, and happy, and loved."

He stopped as Sarah Jane grabbed his finger in her tiny fist, and stared adoringly at her. "You humans are phenomenal. On my planet, we don't have children. They're loomed. But I think it's better this way. Why would anyone want to miss out on this?"

Baby Sarah Jane made more noises, and the Doctor jumped up. "Yes! Of course! It's far past your bedtime. Go to sleep, little Sarah Jane." She closed her eyes and, as if by magic, was asleep within a minute.

The Doctor quietly opened the door to her bedroom and stealthily moved towards the stairs. Trying not to alert Rose and his duplicate to his presence, he stepped slowly down the staircase, and leaned against the wall at the bottom. There, not 15 feet away from him, was his Rose. She was curled up on the couch beneath the arm of his duplicate. They both looked warm, happy, and extremely contented with their current position.

'If I revealed myself to Rose now,' the Doctor thought, 'she'd only be filled with grief again. It would be more kind to just leave her be. She's in love, she has a baby, and they'll be together or he rest of both of their lives.'

He stood there, just watching for a few more minutes, and then went back upstairs. He slipped back into Sarah Jane's room and took one last look at the sleeping baby before entering the TARDIS once again.

"Okay girl, let's head back. It's just you and me now."

**Please review, whether it's comments or constructive criticism, I love to hear your thoughts :)**


End file.
